New neighbor Henry

Many different animals live in a green meadow. There are hamsters, voles, rabbits, snails and earthworms. They have lived together peacefully for many years, sharing space and resources in the grasslands amicably.

One summer day, a rabbit saw a stranger from afar approaching the meadow with a small backpack. He immediately informed all the residents of the grassland, and in no time, they all came out of their caves and hiding places.

“Hello, I’m Henry the Mole,” the stranger called as he approached the waiting animals. “I was looking for a new home and was wondering if there were any vacancies in this area.”

The other animals looked at each other. They all agree that growing their community is a good thing.

“Welcome, dear Henry!” said the rabbit. “We have a lot of room here. Let me introduce to you the many inhabitants of this grassland.”

They walked around the large meadow while the rabbit showed Henry where everyone lived.

“Just pick an empty spot,” he said. “So far, we have never gotten in each other’s way.”

Henry couldn’t believe his luck. He was very happy to have quickly found a new place to sleep and to have such friendly neighbours.

He spent the first few days furnishing his new underground home. He hadn’t brought much with him, just a few odds and ends that he now lovingly arranged in his study.

The next day, Henry decided to remodel his house a little bigger. Moles are very good at digging. He diligently dug in all directions. Suddenly, the ground right in front of him became thin and crumbled. He heard a loud hiss.

“Oh no!” he thought. “I accidentally ran into the hamster house.”

Not only that! Henry was now standing in the middle of the mouse family’s living room as he had just broken through their wall.

“I’m terribly sorry about this,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to rush in here. I will fix the wall right away.”

Luckily, the field mice were home alone and found it very funny to have a large, friendly mole suddenly standing with them in the house.

“Can’t you see our front door?” one of the pups asked.

Henry rubbed his eyes but could only make out the outlines of rats.

“To be honest, I can’t see very well,” Henry replied.

The pups comforted him and helped him find his way out of the living room. He quickly shovelled dirt back into the cave and carefully made his way back to his cave.

When he got home, he was so tired that he fell asleep on the spot.

The next morning, he woke up to loud voices coming from the meadow above his head.

He rubbed his eyes and slowly felt his way up to the surface. When he stuck his head out, he could see many animals gathered around. When they saw him, they immediately started screaming.

One person called out: “Henry! Just look at the grasslands. It’s a big construction site. Many of the animals in our neighbourhood are young, and now they can hardly make it over these hills. What did you do?”

Henry couldn’t see very well, but he was extremely upset because the other animals seemed very angry with him.

“I didn’t mean to do it,” he said. “It’s just that when I want some daylight, the hills seem to appear of their own accord when I step off the ground.”

Henry is very sad.

Then, a little mouse said: “Don’t be so harsh on Henry. He can’t even see the hills!”

The other animals looked at each other and realized that he didn’t mean to create the hills.

Then, the hamster’s mother came up with an idea.

“You know what, Henry?” she speaks. “Why don’t we give you a pair of glasses so you can see where the other animals have a home!”

Henry felt relieved. His neighbours are no longer angry with him, and he can explore the world in a whole new way with his new glasses.